


To The Sea

by tsuchigamorii



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:33:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28862607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuchigamorii/pseuds/tsuchigamorii
Summary: Valeria Bodt joins the 104th cadet corps with her Twin brother in hopes of protecting him from the titans- little does she know the journey she is about to commence is far greater than what she had originally intended...
Kudos: 1





	To The Sea

5 Years ago titans breached Wall Maria and took over Shiganshina District...

Hundreds of citizens left their homes to seek refuge within Wall Rose, I could remember seeing the boats coming down the canal that day- people were packed in like sardines, children were screaming for their parents and parents for their children. On the sides of the boats people clung onto the railings, their faces painted with desperation and fear- they had lost everything and if they weren't strong enough they'd lose themselves too. For weeks bodies washed up on the banks, people who had been pushed off the boats or had fallen from the railings or had even just lost hope for life within the walls. Even once within Wall Rose life was hell for the refugees, they were homeless and hungry and there was a shortage of food before they had arrived, most families couldn't help them even they wanted to. Due to the food shortages and the cold of the upcoming winter the bodies spread from the canal to the streets of the estuary towns, including my own. After a few months, all hell broke loose in town. Rows and riots began to break out between locals and foreigners, disputes over food, resources, sanitation and housing- the majority of the residents believed that those from Shiganshina needed to build their own places to live, they were so very unforgiving and cold despite the knowledge of what these people had gone through.

My family however, were not so cruel. My mother and father allowed a few families to live under our roof, their kindness was not completely catch-free but the labour was minimal compared to what my parents were doing for them. Marco and I would play out in the fields with the children whilst the adults farmed to help compensate for the food shortages in town. I could remember once a child told us about their father who joined the cadet corps a few years back and never returned home, he said it was because he joined the Military Police and moved to the interior without them. 

_"Doesn't sound so bad living in the interior. I'll be there soon..."_

On that day Marco told me that he wanted to join the MP's too, at first I was mad at him- I thought that being part of the MP's would be dangerous work but on further research I discovered the real honourable (and perilous) work was done by the Scout regiment, I could never see Marco doing that sort of work anyways. I calmed down a bit after a week or so and told him that I'd join with him, even if I knew that the Military Police basically just sat around all day in the Interior, I knew there were still risks and I _knew_ that if the time were to come were Wall Sina were breached Marco would need some kind of protection. Our whole lives he had had big dreams and a big heart but there wasn't really anything behind that- he wasn't particularly skilled in any practical sense and he would always force himself to see the best in people, even if it were to be his downfall in the long run. Once we were finally old enough (around 16 years old) we left our hometown, which was still recovering from the fall of Wall Maria, and headed off to the carriages that would take us to the barracks for our training. 

That brings us up to about now- Marco and I getting knocked around in a horse drawn trailer packed together with a few other cadets. "Aren't you excited Val? We've been waiting for this for years and we're finally here, our first steps to joining the MP's like we've always wanted," Marco leant back against the wall of the trailer with a disgusting grin on his face that seemed to make the surrounding people grimace. How could he be this excited? We were sitting in a wooden trailer, packed together with a bunch of strangers whilst trying to dodge rat droppings that were being flung around by the uneven road. "Yeah, seems real glamorous," I groaned, "I just want to get this over with." 

"Come on, don't be like that. Just think after this we'll be able to live it up in the interior, Mom and Dad will be so proud of us." Suddenly, a voice chimed in from the other side of me- a guy with a messy ash-brown undercut glared over at us smugly, "Hate to break it to you but only the top 10 cadets get a chance to join the Military Police," as I turned to him he scooted back and a flustered look assumed position on his face. His eyes were brown and he fashioned a white button up shirt and a dark vest, he looked pretty well dressed for where we were heading. He was clearly the type that thought that looks could get you anywhere, but I doubt his will do anything for him anytime soon. "Really? Well I guess we'll just have to work hard then right?" I nodded at Marco briefly before returning my gaze on the jackass sitting next to me. Although he hadn't actually said anything wrong yet I could tell that for whatever reason he saw himself as superior to the rest of us. Upon seeing a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, I realised that I'd probably scared him enough; I stretched out my hand (as much as I could anyways) and offered it to him, "Sorry about that, I'm Valeria Bodt, Marco here is my twin and we are from one of the estuary towns. You?" He tentatively took my hand and shook it, I think I've had my desired effect on him, for now at least. "Jean-er- Jean Kirstein from Trost,"  
"Trost, really? What's it like? Back home they told us that Trost was really nice for an outlier district, is that true?" I really didn't like this Jean guy but my parents had always taught us to be polite, even if it meant lying through our teeth. His hand was still clasped around mine, I didn't really know what to do- I didn't want to pull my hand away in case it would be considered rude so I just let it happen even though he was sweating and it was making me incredibly uncomfortable. His eyes were still fixed on me, he seemed to be in shock or something. He sat there with his mouth agape for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before finally jolting his hand away from me and coughing awkwardly "Er- yeah its okay I suppose, nothing compared to what it'll be like in the Interior though,"

"The interior? So you want to be in the Military Police too?" Marco peeked his head out from behind me, the same annoying smile on his face.

"Well, yeah. People only join the cadets for the chance to be part of the MPs. Well, that or they have a hero complex," After this I got almost entirely removed from the conversation, Marco and Jean continued to talk incessantly until we arrived at the barracks, much to the protest of the other cadets in the trailer with us. Once we arrived, we were given an hour to explore the grounds before our welcome ceremony; almost immediately upon arrival Marco ditched me so that him and Jean could explore together- I'm glad he's managed to make a friend so fast but of all people why him? I guess I was partially grateful that they had left me to my own devices because it allowed me to conduct some intense, focused people watching which gave me a pretty good idea of who I was planning to group myself with. As well as this, I found out that we are housed in random same-sex pairs, meaning I would be put in a room with a complete stranger until training was over- great. It seemed as though despite the fact that everyone had only just arrived at the barracks they had already gravitated to the people that seemed the most likeable to them. I later found Marco and Jean standing with three people that I hadn't run into yet on my travels, two of them seemed pretty intimidating whilst the other seemed quite kind and shied away from the social interaction. Marco beckoned me over to the group and directed their attention over to me, “Oh this is my sister Val!” As I approached the group I saw Jean stumble back like an idiot- it was good to know he still feared me. I situated myself beside Marco and took a moment to appreciate the people before me: a girl with her blonde hair tied messily behind her head with piercing blue eyes that seemed to be staring straight into my soul; a tall built guy with strong facial features and short blonde hair, he too was incredibly intimidating as he stood back with his arms crossed like a bouncer of some kind; and finally a tall guy with dark hair and kind eyes, he seemed like the kind of guy you could go to with all of your problems. One of them offered their hand out to me with a concerning sense of urgency, i came to realise it was the blonde guy and that he was far less intimidating when he smiled, “Hey, I’m Reiner Braun, it’s nice to meet you Val,” I smiled nervously and shook his hand. He had a very firm grip and his hands were rough like he’d been doing hard labour his whole life, he seemed strong- out of all the people I’d seen here today he seemed the most at home in such a setting. It was strange how he so suddenly went from being intimidating to seeming friendly, it was like he had put on a mask and just in that moment i had caught him off guard and he’d shown his true self. After a few more moments of silence my gaze met the dark haired guy, he seemed shy and introverted but there was this clear kindness in his eyes- I feel like he has a good reason to be here, rather than just wanting to live in the interior. Once he had noticed my gaze he smiled and slightly turned his head away- cute. “Sorry, that’s Bertolt, he’s a little quiet at first.” Reiner elbowed his friend in the ribs before gesturing towards me. “My name’s Bertolt Hoover,” he smiled again . Bertolt definitely seemed interesting, his smile didn’t seem to fit his face-not in a rude way, it just looked out of place. It seemed as if he hadn’t smiled in a long time and was trying to get used to the sensation again; I found it odd how someone who looked so nice could look so unnatural whilst smiling. To his left was the final unknown member of the group, the blonde girl. Unlike Bertolt and Reiner she seemed unapologetically intimidating, she didn’t want to be liked and she wanted everyone to know it. A clump of her hair covered one of here eyes as she glared at the rest of us, I had the impression that her, Reiner and Bertolt had known each other for a long time. Each time one of them spoke, the other’s body language would immediately relax. “Annie Leonhart,” she spat, as if to reduce the amount of social interaction. 

We talked for a while after this, upon finding out that Marco and I were from within Wall Rose he began asking questions with an overwhelming sense of urgency that seemed to make Annie and Bertolt uncomfortable.

"What was it like after the fall of Wall Maria?" 

"Why do you ask?"

"I imagine it must have been really hard on you guys, with all of the people flooding within the walls-"

"It was." Marco's voice seemed fragile in this moment, I hadn't seen him like this for a long time, it was like all of the horrific things we witnessed were rushing back to him all at once, " We were all terrified and none of us had even seen a titan. It was like the world was falling apart, I mean, if the titans could get Shiganshina who's to say that we weren't next." I placed a hand tenderly on Marco's shoulder- the news of the fall had been particularly hard on him for whatever reason. Although he wasn't very powerful, all he ever wanted to do was make our parents proud even if it meant keeping his feelings to himself. Seeing him open up now to this group of strangers was a shock, but he deserved this much- I was happy for him. "Most of the people who made it in to our village survived, I can't imagine it was very enjoyable though,"

"Most?"

"Yeah, a lot of the people ended up dying," I replied bluntly.

"Why did they die?"

"Starvation, Disease, Cold, Violence- I don't know. There wasn't anything that could be done about it, there was just too many people and no help from the government." I had made friends with a boy from Shiganshina after the fall, he had lost his entire family and was homeless in our town but he still seemed happy somehow. It perplexed me how someone who had gone through so much could still walk the streets with a smile on his face, it was inspiring. He told me that he had to be careful at night when sleeping because of dangerous men who would take advantage of the darkness and prey on the vulnerable when no one was looking- I never took him seriously. I thought it was just some stupid story that he had made up to scare me, I thought he was joking the whole time. I was so naïve. I'd never experienced any real danger, only heard about it in stories that my parents would tell us where the hero always came out victorious in the end . To me, he was the hero. I could still remember what he looked like when I found him. When I saw a group of men from my village repeatedly plunging blades into his frail body. I made eye contact with him before the first attack, he seemed fine before he saw me. Once his eyes met mine they filled with fear, like my presence scared him. 

"VAL RUN!" he screamed only to be interrupted as one of the men slashed his stomach with a common kitchen knife. His blood trickled onto the floor soaking deep into the dirt path, I stood in dismay as I watched the life of my friend drain out of him like water. Once the men noticed me they ran, giving me an opportunity to hold him for the last time. I cupped his face, which was now cold, and called out for someone to help him... 

But no one came...

I will never forgive myself for not listening to him. It turned out that these men were responsible for the deaths of many of the refugees on the streets, the death toll piled up and up until finally the capital sent out carts to collect the bodies. Pain ravaged my body every time I walked the streets of the town, it no longer felt like a home- it felt like hell. That was the first time I realised that the titans weren't the only enemies that we had. His name was James. I pray every night that things are better for him now.

"I think we should probably head back now, it looks like the ceremony is starting," Jean chimed in. I snapped out of my flashback to realise where I was. Unlike everyone else, I didn't really have a real reason to be here. I didn't want to be a hero or live in wall Sina or anything, I try to convince myself that I was here for Marco but I'm not sure that could be completely true. Something else was driving me to take this path, maybe it was because I wanted the cruelty to end. Maybe it was because I wanted to avenge my friend. Maybe I wanted to protect my family. I didn't know. Whatever it was I could tell that it would be interesting if nothing else, at least for a while...


End file.
